


Metempsychosis

by unendingexhaustion



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canonical Character Death, Gen, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, bb-8 is k-2so
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-29
Updated: 2017-05-29
Packaged: 2018-11-06 05:43:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11029833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unendingexhaustion/pseuds/unendingexhaustion
Summary: Noun, singular.1) the transmigration of the soul, especially the passage of the soul after death from a human or animal to some other human or animal body.K-2SO is not a stupid droid.





	Metempsychosis

K-2SO is not a stupid droid. The probability of success for the Scarif mission is low, and the probability of survival even lower. He tells Cassian as much, but he says he’s going anyway. Something about faith, and revolution, and a noble cause. K-2SO thinks that is not as important as Cassian’s continued survival, but since Cassian is going, K-2SO will as well. Cassian will need him.  
K-2SO is also in possession of a functioning processor unit, so he does what any intelligent droid with responsibilities would do. He backs himself up. It’s inconvenient, yes, being hooked up to the central databank for hours while his memory copies, but it’s less inconvenient than letting Cassian Andor run around without someone logical supervising. It’s a good thing that some of the Rebellion astromechs have begun to follow his example. These organics need stable beings around to keep them alive, especially the pilots. Reckless, all of them.  
In the chaos of planning the assault on the Scarif base, K-2SO copies his most recent backup (last night, in fact. Backups are also convenient for recharging), onto a datachip. The likelihood of this chassis surviving this mission is low, but with the chip placed safely in Cassian’s quarters, K-2SO knows he will be back if Cassian survives. That is the main objective. Get the plans, keep Cassian alive. The others would be a bonus. That’s all. A bonus. (A necessity.) A droid’s chassis can be replaced. An organic cannot be backed up.  
He goes to the transport shuttle soon to be called Rogue One trying very hard not to think about this particular fact.  
Somehow, the blaster bolts come as a surprise. K2-SO knew the risks when he followed Cassian, but organics must be rubbing off on him. He’d….hoped. Hoped that it wouldn’t turn out like this. He is only a single droid. He does what he can. Even if Jyn and Cassian are successful, this K-2SO will stay here, either mouldering in an abandoned base or blasted to atoms by the Death Star. The backup isn’t as much of a comfort as he thought it would be. It has only been a few short hours since the datachip was left behind, and already he feels... different. The droid on the chip is no longer K-2SO, and when it is reloaded, it will be someone else entirely. This chassis’ servos are completely fried, leaving him slumped over the door controls and hissing sparks as he waits for his punctured batteries to fail. He contemplates how his memories will interact with his new body. Will it have a vocalizer? Will it be tall or short? They are all hypotheticals, but Cassian will survive to install him. The alternative, while infinitely more likely, is not what this particular droid wants to focus his “dying” moments on.  
Cassian will survive. He will power on in a new chassis. Cassian will explain. They will fight the empire. They will continue. Things will be as they have been. 

10%. 

3%. Low power: please charge.

Nothing.

Poe Dameron is thirteen years old, and nothing if not inquisitive. He’ll take apart anything he can, and sometimes things even work after he sticks them back together! Kes Dameron and Shara Bey have since banned him from disassembling functioning equipment. (“We don’t have that for decoration, Poe!”) He spends a good chunk of his time lurking around hangars and mechanics, helping and asking questions and most of all learning. Things start to work better than before once he puts them back together. The ban is lifted. A few of the mechanics he helps offer him apprenticeships, but he turns them down. He wants to be a pilot, like his mother. One gives him a broken BB series astromech when he starts learning to fly. It’s going to be the best astromech ever, Poe decides, and he’s going to do whatever it takes to make that happen.  
Poe finishes the body of his BB-8 on the night before his sixteenth birthday. It’s bright and round and it’s orange-and-white plating shines with all the care he’s put into it. The internal electronics are as up-to-date as he could get, and all the specially modified attachments and additions fit perfectly into their storage slots without disrupting the balance of the chassis. It’s perfect. Well, almost perfect. Some glitch in its processor system keeps rejecting the blank memory chip, and it’s impossible to get one aftermarket that hasn’t been wiped. It’s a small smear on an otherwise perfect project, though, so Poe pushes the frustration away and falls into bed.  
There’s a box on the breakfast table the next morning, Poe’s name scrawled on it in his mom’s handwriting. His father laughs when he catches Poe eyeing it, and moves it off to the side to put his breakfast down. He’ll open his present tonight after dinner, but for now Poe has classes to get to and friends to see. That battered package sits in the back of his mind all day, nagging at his ever-present curiosity. When the time finally comes, he tears into the thick cardboard and pulls out a note, along with something small wrapped in protective foam. The note is sweet, and would have made a half-decent present in and of itself with Poe’s mother being gone so much of the time on classified duty with Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker, but it’s the afterthought scribbled on the back that truly makes his day.  
“By the way, this chip should work for your droid.”  
The chip is slightly scuffed and clearly an old model. The outer casing is cracked along the edge, but a bit of hold-all would fix that good as new. After a bit of excited babbling and a quick goodnight to his father, Poe races to insert the chip and boot up his droid. It slides in easily and the slot clicks closed, soft whirrs and beeps filling the air as the chip is scanned. The BB-8 unit issues a cheerful ping as the card is accepted and begins integrating with the chassis. It boots up, and it wiggles left and right, rotates it’s dome, zooms the eye lenses, and finally focuses on Poe.

K-2SO doesn’t particularly feel like a K unit anymore. He runs a diagnostic of this new chassis. A BB-8 unit, refurbished, with a handful of unusual add-ons and an unfortunate lack of a vocalizer. Ah well. He’ll make do. A quick motion systems test later, his new optic lens focuses on the human in the room. Not Cassian. His new internal date and time system shows a much later year than his last registered date. He supposes they must have died, on the mission to Scarif. K-2SO, or rather BB-8, is not sure what to make of this. Unconsciously, the little droid lets out a series of distressed beeps and whirrs and spins his dome. Not-Cassian crouches down, a friendly smile on his face.

“Hey, hey, easy there, it’s alright.” He says. “My name’s Poe Dameron, good to meet you, BB-8.” The newly-designated BB-8 responds with an irritated whistle and Poe laughs.  
“I’m gonna have to learn Binary, aren’t I? Shoulda thought of that earlier. At least I can practice with someone now!”

“Phweeeee-bit! Bweoop Bip!”

And that’s where it begins.

**Author's Note:**

> Please don't nitpick, this is a pseudo-AU and not entirely based on canon. Hit me up at lesbian-ventress on tumblr for more Star Wars content!


End file.
